s Gen. XV. 1. John i. 12, 2 Cor. vi. 18. •' Ps. xliii. 5, i Ps. Ixxxvi. 7.
cccx.
2 Sam. iii. 31 — 34. And David said to Joab, and to all the 2)eo2)le that were loith him, Rend your clothes, and gird you tvith sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself folloived the bier. And they buried Abner in He- bron; and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner ; and all the people wept. And the king lamented over Abner, and said. Died Abner as a fool dieth ? Thy hands tvere not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters : as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him.
AFTER the death of Saul, David was anointed king in Hebron : but still he reigned over one tribe only ; for Abner had prevailed on the other eleven tribes to adhere still to the house of Saul, and to make Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, their king. From the disinterestedness and forbearance which David manifested during all the persecutions which he ex- perienced from Saul, we can have no doubt but that he would have rested satisfied with the government of one tribe, till God in his providence should open the way for the full possession of the throne of Israel : but Ishbosheth and his adherents accounted David an usurper, and therefore waged incessant war with him for seven years ^ At last however a cir- cumstance occurred, which seemed likely to effect the promised union of all the tribes under David as their head. Ishbosheth had offended Abner by ac- cusing him of illicit intercourse with a concubine of
a 2 Sam. ii. 10, 11. with 2 Sam. iii. 1.